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Liberals rejoice at health care injustice

Good liberals across America are supposed to be dancing in the street today because President Obama has managed to pass a watered down bill that doesn’t deliver the public health-care system that the majority of the American public have wanted for so long. That is what’s called a “victory” in liberal America today.

Of course the bill is a small step in the right direction but that’s the kindest thing that can be said about it. The passing of such a bill appeases liberals everywhere that however flawed the system is, it is still basically democratic which is the most dangerous result of this whole long drawn-out charade. The fact that they even contemplate this is true is indicative of how indoctrinated they are by the liberal media and political establishment when the facts are considered.

The good points can be summarized as:

1) Around 32 million more poor Americans will finally have some measure of medical insurance.

2) Medical insurers won’t be able to turn away people with prior illnesses or medical problems.

However, this isn’t exactly much reason to celebrate when:

1) The American public wanted a universal health care system a long time before Obama came along and the fact that it was even under consideration was an opportunity that has gone begging. It wasn’t even considered an issue by the mainstream media and political elite then and now that this bill has been passed, the chances of ever realizing one are even more remote. Now that the masses have been pacified, the liberal elite can return to ignoring health care as a serious issue.

2) The bill will not change the fact that the American system is twice as expensive as health care systems in the UK, Canada, Germany and Australia and yet offers the poorest service to its customers.

3) It does nothing to stop the fact that health care premiums will continue to rise. Unbelievably, medical care providers are already rubbing their hands at this just hours after the bill was passed. The new bill actually prevents the government from negotiating pharmaceutical prices with big pharmaceuticals and prevents it from importing medicines. Health care in America thus remains in the hands of private tyrannies which is the system’s biggest single problem.

Most polls show that the public wanted a public option which would have counteracted these problems. For example, a recent poll by CBS showed that almost 60% of Americans want a public health care system like every other civilized Western nation. And since a public system already exists for those over 65 in the USA, is it really that complicated to extend it to the rest of the population?

Of course it isn’t. It’s simply a question of political will and that will has been entirely hijacked by the corporate community in America. The new health care bill hasn’t proved that Obama has suddenly turned over a new progressive leaf for America. Rather what it has proved is that public opinion is woefully constrained by what the corporate community and mainstream media want in the USA.

The key for the American public is now to push even harder for a universal health care system and make it clear that the new bill doesn’t even go half as far enough. They certainly won’t be able to rely on Obama and the Democrats to do it for them.

The resistance has rather come from right-wing conservatives who are hell-bent on persuading North American taxpayers (aren’t we all) of a perceived, ‘socialist mandate.’ It’s all about mind control.

The political climate that the Republicans have made in this country is detestable, and really, just plain unproductive. Right now, it is a divided America, where half of us have given into petty fear-mongering.

Americans knew exactly what we wanted when we voted him into office. The Republicans just cannot handle the ‘change’ that comes with an administration that is not all talk, but action this time.

Obama is being the bigger man in all of this, but I just don’t understand how he does it. Power of veto never looked so good until a few months ago…

I agree it’s all about mind control Adjoa but it’s not the Republicans that you should be blaming. The corporate media are the ones controlling minds by propagating the illusion of a functioning democracy in America and that’s evident by the fact that even progressives like yourself are taken in by the notion that Obama is a force for change in America.

The Republicans and Democrats are just two different factions of the corporate community rendering American democracy totally dysfunctional. The fact that this isn’t openly acknowledged by the mainstream media is no surprise – it is owned by the same corporate interests that are undercutting American democracy on a daily basis.

The fact is, Obama is thoroughly committed to corporate interests – he has to be otherwise he would not get the funding to get elected President in the first place. There’s a reason why the health care industry gave three times more to Obama than McCain during the election. You don’t get $20 million for nothing:

This is why Obama hasn’t delivered what he promised and what the American people wanted. It has very little to do with Republican opposition to the plan and to indulge in fantasies that Obama’s administration is one that is radically opposed to the Republicans is part of the problem in my opinion.

You’re right in saying that Obama’s administration isn’t “all talk”. It takes action – only it takes action that furthers the corporate interests that got him into power in the first place and that’s why his administration is pretty much a continuation of Bush’s with a few minor changes.

Thanks for the comments! I’ll post the article on the site later today. I’m currently in the process of publishing my back catalog of articles and this one still hasn’t been done yet but I’ll “fast-track” it for you 🙂

Thanks for the “extra service”. I’ll put my post up tomorrow. That said, I don’t know if you have had a peak at my blog… Would you mind to tell me what you think about “my take on politics”? I don’t deserve it, because my comment on yours was still pretty general. But how about starting a little exchange of ideas?